schullerrobertLos Angeles – Televangelist and Crystal Cathedral megachurch founder Robert Schuller, known worldwide for his weekly “Hour of Power” broadcasts, died in Southern California on Thursday.  He was 88.

The death of Schuller, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2013, marked a closing chapter for a congregation he began in 1955 when he started holding services in a rented drive-in movie theater and built into a worldwide following.

His weekly television broadcast aired for more than four decades, featuring celebrity guests and drawing some 30 million viewers a week at its peak.

He retired as senior pastor of the Protestant church in 2006 and resigned from its board six years later in a financial dispute with its leaders following the $57.5 million bankruptcy sale of the Crystal Cathedral.

The Crystal Cathedral Ministries moved its services to new quarters at the Shepherd’s Grove Church under the direction of a new pastor, Schuller’s grandson, Robert Vernon “Bobby” Schuller.

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